ok i have a bag i want to put grommets on for the strings. it needs to be felted and im not sure if i should put the grommets on before i felt or after i felt the bag. anyone had any experience with this?
question 2: anyone ever felted anything with cables? what do they look like afther they are felted? i mean is it something that is cool looking or is it something that more closely resembles mud once its done?
I’d put the grommets on after felting. A properly felted item can be cut with a scissors and it will not unravel so if you have to cut a little slit to put your grommet in it would work just fine post-felting.
About the cables…I VERY lightly felted a purse that had cables on it (mostly because the knit wasn’t quite as tight as I wanted it to be, it was not intended to be a felted bag) and they came out great, but if I were to make a fully felted item I would not use cables because they would be hardly recognizeable once all was said and done.
For the most part there is no point in doing patterns on something you’ll felt as they don’t really show. If you do it lightly as knitqueen did it may be okay, but then it may not be felted as tightly as you want.
I haven’t done grommets, but I’d say after felting as well.
COOL! I was thinking after felting too but wasn’t sure.
i asked about the cables because im making this cable wool hat and my kid i know is going to end up throwing it in the washing machine at some point so i was wondering if it was even worth putting the cables in it or not :rofling: its good to know that patterns don’t come out well in felting. i will cut down on the amount of cables i put into the hat 
If a wool hat accidentally got thrown in the washing machine, it wouldn’t fit its original recipient in the end anyways!
Good luck with your projects!
If you really want cables -like on a purse front or something
It might be fun to knit some cabled panels and attach felted panels to either side. (make the cables out of super wash) You could use a crochet stitch to attach them together. 